Question

Find out how the city of Beijing, China, tackled the problem of air pollution.

Answer 1

Beijing tackled air pollution through a large, coordinated clean-air programme rather than relying on one solution. Its major actions included:

• Reducing coal use: Beijing replaced coal-fired heating and power facilities with cleaner energy such as natural gas and electricity. Coal consumption fell dramatically, from about 23 million tonnes in 2012 to less than 5 million tonnes in 2017.
• Controlling vehicle pollution: The city introduced stricter vehicle-emission standards, limited the growth of the vehicle fleet, removed old high-polluting vehicles, and promoted public transport and clean-energy vehicles.
• Closing or upgrading polluting industries: Beijing reduced industrial capacity and required heavily polluting businesses to improve their emissions or leave the city.
• Controlling dust: The government strengthened controls at construction sites and increased road cleaning to reduce dust pollution.
• Strong government targets and enforcement: Its 2013–2017 Clean Air Action Plan set a target of reducing average PM2.5 concentrations by more than 25% from 2012 levels. Responsibilities were assigned to specific government departments and local authorities, with monitoring and accountability.
• Regional cooperation: Beijing also worked with surrounding areas because pollution can travel across city and provincial boundaries.